New Israeli gas field too close to border

Decrees and draft law
await Cabinet meeting

The Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW) said that Israel has discovered a gas field very close to two of the oil and gas blocks Lebanon had marked along its southern borders. It called for an extraordinary cabinet session to speedily approve two decrees related to demarcating maritime blocks and the exploration and production agreement.

Karish, the new field Israel has discovered, is 4 km away from block number eight and 6 km from block number nine. An exploratory well was drilled 15 km away from the two blocks. “This means that Israel now has theoretically the opportunity to access our local petroleum resources,” the MoEW said.

On the other hand, the Petroleum Administration recently raised a draft law related to a taxation system for petroleum activities. “If current taxation laws were adopted, the country would benefit less from taxes, and oil companies will have to take more risks, contrary to what the prepared draft law implicates,” the MoEW said. The Ministry said it will reach out to the President, Prime Minister, and all parliamentary blocks to ratify the draft as soon as possible.

According to an official at one of the prequalified oil companies, firms have questions about the taxing system that will be adopted. The EPA draft dictates that the companies are required to pay all local taxes. But there is no specific taxation system in place for oil and gas.